Sheaffer Vfm

[Wandering Man]

I was out of town on business a few weeks ago and the two pens I brought were in danger of running dry, so I found an Office Depot and picked up a Sheaffer VFM. I wasn't sure whether it came with any cartridges, so I bought a 5-pack of Sheaffer ink carts.

 

Well,it did come with its own ink cartridge, and I was glad I bought the inexpensive pen, since I ran of ink before I was through with my two interviews.

 

Now I'm back home, and the pen has run dry. I opened the package of Sheaffer Classic Cartridges, only to discover they do not fit this Sheaffer pen. Sheaffer's website tells me that this pen takes the Euro cartridge.

 

It says nothing about converters.

 

Is there a converter that fits this pen, or will I have to forever feed it with cartridges?

[mitto]

No converter for VFM. It is a cart only pen.

Edited August 3, 2018 by mitto

[Wandering Man]

Yeah, they responded to my email. No converter

 

Oh well, I now have plenty of cartridges to empty and then refill with colored inks.

 

It should end up being a good travel / back-up pen. I like the way writes.

[davefoe]

I bought one of these pens and didn't think it wrote very well. Kind of skippy and not a great flow. I also think it is ridiculous that it does not take regular Sheaffer cartridges. To me, this makes no sense. I suppose this is a pen basically intended for overseas markets that use international cartridges, but why it is marketed as a Sheaffer is a good question. I think a Sheaffer pen ought to use Sheaffer cartridges. And yes, Sheaffer makes a pack of these cartridges, but only in black and possibly blue, I believe. Not impressed.

[SoulSamurai]

Is there a converter that fits this pen, or will I have to forever feed it with cartridges?

 

I just found this thread so my apologies for the late reply. I have found that a Monteverde mini converter with the knob shaved down to be the same diameter as the piston will in fact fit in a VFM:

 

The ink capacity is a bit low of course. Also I'm pretty sure either the Templar Ink Mini Converter or Skinny Mini Converter should fit (although their capacity is so low I wouldn't bother):

 

http://templarink.com/images/MiniConverter2_sm.jpg

 

http://templarink.com/images/SkinnyMiniConverter2_sm.jpg

 

 

On a related note, my VFM has a great nib and I find the weight and balance to be very comfortable; it's one of my favourite pens despite the converter issues and the narrow grip and step (which don't bother me for short periods at least).

Edited August 27, 2018 by SoulSamurai

[MilanKov]

I usually refill cartridges. I have this pen and it is reliable writer with nice balance, after six years of daily use and abuse I really recommend this pen it gives good performance for the reasonable price.

[RonE]

There is a spacer in the back of the barell that most surely is there to keep the cartridge snug. You can push the spacer further back with a phillips screwdriver to create more room. A kaweco mini converter can fit. Oddly some fit on the post poorly, some ok. Best,. Ron

[SoulSamurai]

 

I just heard a few months ago that Sheaffer has released a new version of the VFM. IIRC this new one is a bit longer and does take normal standard international converters (https://www.gouletpens.com/search?q=vfm). Is yours the old model or the new one?

 

 

(Edit: this was posted in response to a recent post that seems to have disappeared. The necromancer was not I!)

[SoulSamurai]

Ugh, funnily enough I just clicked on a couple of the pens from the link I posted. Some say they take converters, some specifically say they don't. So it looks like there's old VFM and new VFM pens listed, and it's not clear which is which from just the name.

[inkstainedruth]

8 hours ago, SoulSamurai said:

 

I just heard a few months ago that Sheaffer has released a new version of the VFM. IIRC this new one is a bit longer and does take normal standard international converters (https://www.gouletpens.com/search?q=vfm). Is yours the old model or the new one?

 

 

(Edit: this was posted in response to a recent post that seems to have disappeared. The necromancer was not I!)

AFAIK it's the "earlier" one (but don't know for certain, since I don't know the provenance of the pen before the raffle at our Pelikan Hub.  Because someone at Sheaffer told me yesterday that they stopped making the converters for the VFM pens.  And the converter I bought over the weekend does NOT fit (but at least I know that they should fit the recently acquired No Nonsense pens).  
That's interesting about the International Standard -- because someone told me that Sheaffer has proprietary converters....  Of course, IME, they're not as "standard" as they're made out to be.  Someone told me that the Penatia (a sub-brand of Cross) I picked up at an antiques store a couple of years ago took International Standard converters.  And I trailed around a pen show trying to find one that would work, only none of them did.  But a *Cross* converter fit just fine!  Go figure....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: I also have shout outs to a lot of the online retailers to see what they have/recommend.

[Ron Z]

This is an interesting discussion...  I picked up a VFM at the Ohio show.  Cute pen.   There is a metal piece with a hole in it in the barrel.  I'm going to see if I can catch it with a long screw and pull it out.  The Kaweco mini converter is too tight.  But a Monteverde mini converter will fit, as it does a slim Targa.  But it will split if you don't heat it with hot water first.  Having said that, the piston hits that piece and pushes it down.  We'll see if we can get around that.

 

This isn't new to Sheaffer.  The Compact, or Compact Imperial from the early 60s was a cartridge only pen.  I've never found a converter that will fit, except a "bantam" converter that Giovanni Abrate wa selling, which was pretty much useless.  

 

I gather that Sheaffer under Cross was moving away from the proprietary cartridges and ballpoint refills at the end.   The Taranis bp used the DIN/Parker style refill, so it makes sense that they might have used a short standard international cartridge for the VFM.   There really are people in the world that want to use cartridges and nothing else, having no interest at all in messing with bottled ink, converters or syringes.  

 

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I started with cartridges because I didn't know about bottled ink.  I much prefer using converters.  Easier to clean the pen out, and not dumping dead plastic cartridges into a landfill.  

Plus, I find that pulling ink up through the feed from a bottle or sample vial tends to help prime the feed and nib.  

Of course, I wasn't expecting the Sheaffer converter I bought for the VPM to not fit....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ron Z]

On 11/6/2025 at 8:52 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Of course, I wasn't expecting the Sheaffer converter I bought for the VPM to not fit....

 

But it will fit most other Sheaffers, so worth having on hand.  By the way, I found one of the Bantam converters that I bought some time after 2005....  It was as useless as I remembered.  "Fill" it, and you get maybe 6 drops out, if you're lucky.  I have no idea why I still have them.

 

I did a little work this afternoon on the orange one I picked up over the weekend.    Yes, there is what looks like a disk, but is in fact a stamped piece that is a snug fit in the barrel that backs up a standard short international cartridge.  It allows you to drop the cartridge in and then screw the section in, and the piercing tube in the section will puncture the seal in the cartridge.  BUT, you can't use anything except a cartridge. 

 

I proceeded to remove the plug in the barrel.   Using a 9/32 drill I drilled out the middle of the plug.  I wanted to see if a standard Schmidt converter worked, so I spent the time removing the rest of it.  Alligator forceps  needed....   Even with that out, the barrel is too short for a Schmidt converter.  But a Kaweco mini converter is short enough, and  though it's a snug fit, works quite well and holds about as much ink as a short international cartridge.  The Monteverde mini converter fits too, but the nipple at the opening will split fairly quickly.

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the info.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth